Ohio History Journal

THE COMING AND GOING OF OHIO DROVING

THE COMING AND GOING OF OHIO DROVING.

REV. I. F. KING, D. D.

[Mr. King about the year 1850 took three droves, two of cattle and

one of sheep across the Allegheny mountains. In doing this he walked

from Zanesville, Ohio, to eastern Pennsylvania five times. On one trip

he came home by public conveyance. In 1851 the Baltimore and Ohio

Railroad was only finished to Clarksburg, West Virginia. This article

is an interesting description of a phase of the business life in the early

half of the past century.- EDITOR.]

America having been discovered by Europeans, it was

natural that emigrants should first settle up the territory on our

Atlantic seaboard. The cities of Boston, New York, Philadel-

phia and Baltimore were the first to have a population numbered

by the hundreds of thousands. The states adjacent to these

cities were the first in the Union to develop their resources. As

these eastern cities grew, the greater was the demand for meat.

Fresh meat, being very toothsome, the call for it became more

general.

Soon the value of land on the Atlantic slope became higher

and the price of grain went up and consequently meats became

more costly.

At that time the forests of Ohio were being cleared and the

rich primitive soil began to yield corn at the rate, some times,

of one hundred bushels per acre. Then the only easily reached

market for large lots of corn was New Orleans. To send cargoes

to that city on flat boats was a tedious process. The Ohio

farmer, learning of the demand for meat in the eastern cities,

naturally turned his attention to stock raising. Mr. George

Renick, of Ross county, was the first to improve the breed of

cattle in the state, by getting an English stock from Mr. Patton,

of Kentucky. Mr. Samuel Lutz, of Pickaway county, in the

year 1822, was the first to drive a large herd of fat cattle to

Baltimore market. Some years after this Mr. George Renick,

of Ross county, began to take stock afoot from Ohio to New

(247)

248 Ohio Arch

248 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

York City. Naturally he followed the Zane trace to Wheeling,

West Virginia. This occurred in 1833. In a few years droving

became general.

One Daniel Drew, a tavernkeeper in New York, estab-

lished himself at Bull's Head to give entertainment to drovers.

His hostelry and stock yards became quite popular to these mer-

chants of the West. Mr. Drew made a fortune, and being a

Methodist he, at the close of his life, gave $500,000.00 to en-

dow Drew Theological Seminary, now located at Madison, New

Jersey.

Mr. Felix Renick, of Chillicothe, conceived the idea of

stated stock sales in that city, which began October 26th, 1835.

These continued for many years, and greatly aided in dissemi-

nating throughout the state, the best breeds of cattle. In 1856

the stock raisers of Madison county began monthly stock sales

in London which continue to the present day.

The transporting of cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs, (indeed

in some cases turkeys) in droves from Ohio and quite a num-

ber of other states, even as far west as Missouri, continued un-

til the lines of railroads were ready for use, connecting with the

eastern cities.

In the settlement of Ohio there was such an abundance of

timber that fences were inexpensive and we had in the state so

little prairie, that in stock raising, we did not need herdsmen

as was needed in the following years in states farther west, so

neither the Ohio drover nor his employe was ever known by the

term "cow boy."

There were two grades of cattle driven across the moun-

tains. Three year old steers called "stock cattle" were taken

on foot to eastern Pennsylvania, where farmers bought them

and "fed them out." And four year old bullocks, well fatted,

were also carefully driven from this state and usually sold at

stock yards in eastern cities.

From Ohio to the eastern cities there were three principal

routes. The northern route was by way of Dunkirk, New York

State. From Dunkirk on to the eastern market, at an earlier

date than which characterized any of the other routes, the driv-

The Coming and Going of Ohio Droving

The Coming and Going of Ohio Droving. 249

ing ceased and shipment was made to the coast by rail and I

think to some extent by canal.

Another route was that which crossed the Ohio river-

by ferry-at Wellsville, and thence to Philadelphia by way of

Pittsburg. Soon after railroads were built west to Pittsburg,

it became a terminus for much of the stock which came in from

the West, and finally this city became a great live stock market.

The more southern route was through Zanesville, O.,

Wheeling or Moundsville, Va., and thence on either through

Bedford, Pa., to Philadelphia, or through Cumberland, Md., to

Baltimore. It will be observed that these three routes are now

substantially those of the New York Central, the Pennsylvania

and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad lines to the East.

During the summer and autumn, along these lines of travel,

so many drovers passed that an observer, a mile or more away,

could know of the passing of stock, for far up in the air he could

see long moving lines of rising dust. In the winter and early

spring the clay pikes became almost impassable because of the

depth of the mud. And worse than that, cattle naturally walk

abreast of each other, and soldier-like they put their feet in the

tracks of the one in front, and in this way great trenches were

made across the highway, which when the clay dried became

almost impassable for carriages and other vehicles. The condi-

tion of these roads in March and April was worse than that

of the roughest "corduroy bridges" we have ever encountered.

These "cattle billows" were not confined to the low lands but

went over crag as well as fen. The people whose homes were

located along "the drove roads" bore patiently these discomforts,

for they wished for a market for their stock and a means of sell-

ing, at home, their grain, hay and pasture.

Along the "drove roads" soon were established "drove

stands." Some of these were inns, but more frequently, they

were large farm houses where drovers obtained lodging and

board as well as provisions for the stock they were transport-

ing. During the thirty years, beginning with 1822, when Ohio

droving began, it was a common thing for corn to sell for twen-

ty-five cents per bushel or for thirty-seven and a half cents per

shock. In that period cattle usually could be bought in the

250 Ohio Arch

250 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

autumn for two or three cents per pound, gross weight, and

hogs only a little above these figures. A good fat sheep could

be bought for one dollar and a quarter, and choice ones at two

dollars.

The owner or conductor of the drove was known as "the

bess." These men, even on their second trip across the moun-

tains, became familiar with all the drove stands. And in their

minds these were all graded. No man along the southern route

had such a good reputation as Mr. Ezekiel Bundy, whose farm

house stood a few miles east of Barnesville, Ohio. He set the

best table and furnished the best beds to sleep in, of any of them,

and his bills were not higher than those whose accommodations

were much inferior. Mr. Rex, whose home was near Jefferson,

Pa., was a favorite place to stop over the Sabbath.

Seldom were there less than one hundred cattle in a drove,

and not often much over two hundred in the largest droves.

When fat cattle were driven, it was not unusual to have the

drove accompanied with as many or even more stock hogs. In

such cases the hogs cost little in the way of grain, for they con-

sumed the corn that the cattle wasted. When hogs were taken

with cattle the journey took about a week longer. Droves of

horses would average twenty-two miles per day, stock cattle nine

miles, fat cattle seven, and cattle with hogs not quite so many

miles per day. The crew to take care of a drove of cattle con-

sisted of a boss who rode on horseback seated on a pair of sad-

dle-bags which contained a change of linen for himself and the

men who were afoot. On his saddle pad was a roll of extra gar-

ments, for use by the crew in stormy weather. Of course he

was armed with a good "black snake" whip. In large droves,

a second man was also mounted in the same manner as the boss.

He too, had in his hand a Centerville whip. A harnessmaker

in a little Ohio village called Centerville, in Belmont county,

was known to all southern route drovers to make the best whips

and sell them at reasonable prices. These whips had linen or

silken crackers and when used by a man who knew how, would

make a report like the firing of a rifle. This extra man on

horseback was needed to keep the stock in place when passing

through forests, and when the drove passed intersecting roads

The Coming and Going of Ohio Droving

The Coming and Going of Ohio Droving. 251

and streets. With cattle there was a man on foot leading an

ox by a rope, attached to his horns. For the reader will please

note, that the art of dehorning was not then in vogue. Not one

steer in fifty was a mulley. Soon after going on the road the

other bullocks learned to follow the lead ox.

In the rear of the drove, another man, usually afoot, armed

also with a whip, which was well used on belated and lazy steers.

At the luncheon hour the whole drove was halted in some

well shaded lot, where perhaps every bullock rested by lying

down, and happy was the crew that by any means could supply

itself with a luncheon. While the cattle were thus resting, it

was the custom for the boss to ride rapidly ahead and make ar-

rangements for pasture and food for man and beast during the

night.

Drove hands, in those days, received fifteen dollars per

month. And having reached the market they usually walked

home again. It was a rule to allow 33 miles as a day's task.

Some swift walkers were able to make an average of forty miles

per day. And in this way, in five days he made an extra half

dollar, plus another fifty cent piece which he was allowed for a

day's meals and lodging. These men traversed the same road

home that was used in going East, so as to settle for stock left

accidently in the field, or that was left because it became lame

or sick. The men who kept drove stands could be relied upon

to care well for such stock and in the end to pay a fair price for

such as were accidently left.

It often occurred that in passing over macadamized roads,

and indeed over other roads which were rocky, that the bul-

locks feet became tender, and soon the animal became lame,

and shoeing was a necessity. Along such highways were lo-

cated blacksmiths who had stalls and machinery to lift the steer

off his feet, so he could be shod and thus prepared to finish the

journey.

At that period bridge tolls and ferry fees were high. For

this reason, and because in many cases there were no bridges,

it was not unusual in crossing the large rivers to put the lead

ox and some ten more bullocks on a ferry boat, and these be-

252 Ohio Arch

252 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

came leaders, and the balance of the drove by a little coercing

were made to follow by swimming the river.

In seasons of the year when it was necessary to feed corn

it was the custom to use that which was in the shock, throw it

on a wagon, and go to the feed lot and while the wagon was

moving toss off the corn until the wagon was empty. When

the corn was in the ear, men with scoop shovels threw off, while

the wagon was moving. This required no little skill and trained

muscle.

We have already stated that the price paid the stock raiser

was low, but the drover did not always make money, for it took

some forty or fifty days to reach the market, and in that time

there might be great fluctuation. To wait in the East for a

better market was to be at no little expense, for grain and pas-

ture then in the East was much higher in price than in Ohio.

It was not uncommon for the drover to be met by specula-

tors some three or four days' journey from the market. These

were men who were good judges of stock and they knew well

how the market was supplied and how prices ruled. To a great

extent they had the advantage of the drover, who did not have

access to a daily market report, only as he might interview re-

turning drovers.

These speculators made money more rapidly and surely

than the drover. At the same time the Ohio drover usually

made money. Often his profit was a handsome sum, and the

result of other trips was a great loss. That it was mostly a

lucrative business will be manifest when we remember that

Michael Sullivant, of Franklin county, Wesley Claypool and

Andrew Peters, of Fairfield county, John Boggs and R. R. Sey-

more, of Ross county, and Isaac Funk, of Madison county, were

engaged in this business. It would be difficult to find six men

who lived contemporaneously and were engaged in other call-

ings who excelled them in accumulating handsome fortunes.

The last named man, Mr. Isaac Funk, began business on

farms in the southern part of Madison county, and in the early

forties sold his Ohio possessions and removed to McLean

county, Illinois, where he purchased a vast acreage and bought